Garden Aloes

spring blooming Aloes with yellow flowers (17)

Are you looking to add some yellow color to your waterwise garden in the spring? Here's a handy list of 17 Aloes that are good candidates.

Aloe africana

The plants grow slowly and reach the flowering stage in 4 to 5 years. Bears deep orange buds that open to a light orange or yellow flower. Flowers mostly from mid to late winter, and early spring. The individual flowers are held in a downward inclination but uniquely turn upwards towards the tips. Its large raceme is erect and may be unbranched or have up to four branches, and has tubular flowers. They are are orange in bud and turn yellow just prior to opening from the bottom of the spike upwards. Young plants have flower stalks without branches, but older plants typically have one or more side branches, with exceptional plants having as many as four. These torch-like blooms are attractive to hummingbirds and compliment the grey green leaves, which are armed with many dark thorns. read more

Aloe broomii

The most notable feature of this plant is its odd inflorescence, where the flowers are hidden by the extended bracts, giving it a sinuous, snake-like appearance, hence its name. The flowers are pale greenish yellow and 20 - 25 mm long. It flowers during late winter to spring, and the seed ripens during summer. This Aloe develops a stunning, densely flowered, candle-like inflorescence, 4-5 ft. tall (120-150 cm), in which the buds and pale lemon flowers are covered by white long bracts. read more

Aloe buhrii

The multi-branched inflorescence has up to fifteen racemes of orange to yellow flowers that appear in early spring. Buds point upwards and upon flowering they hang down. read more

Aloe camperi

An established colony of Aloe camperi in full bloom is truly a thing of beauty! 'Popcorn Aloe' blooms later in the season than most Aloes, so it is a nice extension of the flowering season going more into the spring than other Aloes which tend to be winter bloomers. This plant reliably produces 3 foot tall branched inflorescences with an abundance of salmon-orange buds that open to yellow flowers from the bottom up. The flowers are unique as they tend to be less tubular, and a little bit more puffy in a beautiful, soft apricot color. Flower stems are slightly candelabra, and arise above the plants by about 1.5 ft. read more

Aloe elegans

Aloe elegans blooms in winter and early spring. The conical heads of flowers appear on a few (2-4) branched inflorescence rising above the leaf tips. The flower color ranges from a pale yellow to orange-red and this selection, vegetatively produced, has pale mid-orange colored flowers. This plant's flowers are attractive to bees, butterflies and birds. read more

Aloe harlana

The flowers of Aloe harlana appear in spring on a 2 to 3 foot well-branched (3-7 branches) flower stalk. Branching from below the middle of the inflorescence each branch holds a conical raceme of flowers that are either red-orange or yellow as they begin to open from the bottom of the raceme upwards so in the early stages both the red buds and orange flowers are displayed at the same time. The flowers are really the best differentiating morphological characteristic which sets this 'plastic-like' north African spotted aloe apart. read more

Aloe helenae

During the late winter to early spring Aloe helenae puts up multiple inflorescences with large numbers of crowded flowers, each from yellowish green to yellowish orange. The racemes are cylindrical, resembling the inflorescences of the Australian protea relatives in the genus Banksia. The red flower buds fade to pale yellow before opening with flaring petals. read more

Aloe hildebrandtii

Aloe hildebrandtii makes interesting branched conical yellow flowers tipped with a bit of green in the spring, summer and into fall. Mature plants have been seen in flower nearly every month of the year in California. The multicolored inflorescence is short and sparse. read more

Aloe maculata

Aloe maculata is very variable but its distinctly flat-topped inflorescences and usually uniformly colored flowers distinguish it from most other spotted aloes occurring in the same area. Flowers are held in on a multi-branched inflorescence over a long period in summer. Flowers of A maculata 'saponaria' usually yellow, but color ranges widely from yellow and red to salmon-orange. Flowering can occur any time of year, but usually in mid-winter in southern California. This is a very pretty aloe when in flower, especially if one is not that attracted to the spiky form of most aloe flowers. Seeds are reputedly poisonous. read more

Aloe pillansii

The branched inflorescence of A. pillansii develops from in-between the lowest leaves and hang down below the rosette (unlike those of the other tree aloes). The flowers which appear in mid spring are yellow and slightly swollen in the middle. The racemes are up to 150mm long and carry up to 30 yellow flowers at a time. The spherical capsules that ripen and split open into three parts to release the papery seeds that are dispersed by wind. read more

Aloe reynoldsii

This species blooms in mid winter to spring, with yellow to yellow-orange tubular flowers, slightly swollen at the base in a multi-branched, 2 foot tall inflorescence. The sparsely branched inflorescence, unlike most Aloes, is not a raceme (which is like a cluster of flowers), but instead a panicle. A panicle is an inflorescence that reminds one of an umbrella because of its shape. The flowers are almost all on the same layer which is curved like an umbrella. The flowers of Aloe reynoldsii are relatively small. Seed capsules are about 220 mm long and 100 mm in diameter. read more

Aloe 'Rooikappie'

When you see a photo of the inflorescence, you'll understand the name. The flowers at the tip of the flower stem are massed together in the shape of a hood. Mature plants seem to flower periodically all year round in mild climates but is especially prolific in the fall. Arizona and low desert locations will see this species stop blooming during the hottest summer months. Blooms lasts a long time-several weeks usually depending on your weather. Aloe 'Rooikappie' has an attractive flower spike that reaches 18 to 24 inches tall with many orange pendant bell shaped blooms near the top that later turn darker yellow. Flowers themselves are conical in shape and highly symmetrical while developing. read more

Aloe rupestris

What is remarkable about Aloe rupestris are its 1 or 2 candelabra-form inflorescences up to 1.25 meters (4 feet) tall above the leaf rosette that bear 6-15 or more erect, cylindrical racemes. In late winter to early spring appear the sturdy inflorescence bearing many bottlebrush-like spikes of flowers that start out as tight masses of bright yellow buds that burst open to become completely overshadowed by the brilliant orange-red, exerted stamens. When they open, bright reddish stamens extend far out, and give each raceme a fluffy 'bottlebrush' look. The blooms are not long lasting but an amazing display that looks more like a Banksia flower than an aloe when in full bloom. Aloe rupestris is probably the most fluorescent of all the tree aloe flowers. It looks like psychedelic bottle brush from a distance. The individual flowers begin as tight yellow buds that are packed densely on the racemes. read more

Aloe spicata

Aloe spicata flowers in late winter to early spring and are solitary, long, compact columnar racemes that cover about 70% of the length of the entire inflorescence. This Aloe may have up to five, one meter tall inflorescences per rosette. Aloe spicata is named after the shape of the inflorescence, which emerge as densely flowered spikes The flowers are brown-yellow and have a shaving brush appearance owing to the dense inflorescence and long stamens. The long unbranched racemes are covered with dense, sessile, yellow-green flowers which appear yellow-orange due to their bright orange prominent stamens. Flowers have a brownish nectar which attracts birds and insects. Multiple heads in bloom can be quite striking. The flowers open from the bottom up with a wave of orange exerted stamens and great quantities of sticky brownish nectar. read more

Aloe striatula 'Burly'

The brilliant yellow inflorescence rises above the foliage typically in late spring into summer but we often have stray flowering at other times of the year. The flowers are yellowish-orange and appear densely on up to 16 inches (40 cm) tall, un-branched, cone-shaped racemes. One of the few flowers that can flower in zone 9a, as the flowers seem as resistant to the cold as the entire plant. read more

Aloe suzannae

Flowering is a rare event for Aloe suzannae with only maturing plants flowering (at least 20 to 30 years old), and that is infrequent (every 3-15 years). Blooming season is in late winter or early spring. The massive inflorescence which lasts for over a month is unbranched, and densely covered with ivory colored flowers that have yellow stamens. The campanulate shaped flowers are completely covering in length a stout tight spike to 5 feet tall rising above the foliage. It is exceptional in its genus in having nocturnal fragrant flowers, presumably pollinated by nocturnal animals such as bats and small lemurs. It has been observed in the wild with flowers open during the day. Kelly Griffin wrote about this plant in Madagascar, where he got to see a large number of very large plants growing, that this plant flowers both day and night, and pointed out that often repeated nocturnal flowering rule is a long-standing misconception. This plant is at least an unreliable flowerer. It can be years between flowering events for each plant. Some never seem to flower. Fortunately, a number of cultivated plants are now well established and have reached flowering size. read more

Aloe vanbalenii

The flowers of Aloe vanbalenii are in late winter to early spring and are on sparsely branched, about 1 meter tall upright inflorescences, in tightly packed, conical racemes. The flower color varies, from different shades of yellow and orange, but is occasionally red. The flowers are tubular in shape, 30-40 mm long and attractive to nectar seeking birds and insects. read more

Aloes organized by flower color